The Power of Clients' Feedback In Therapy

5 CE Credits/Hours - Online Course - $49.00

This course was produced in collaboration between Taylor & Francis, PLC and the Zur Institute, Inc.The Zur Institute, Inc. maintains responsibility for this continuing education program and its content.

General Course Description

Research consistently shows that when clients give feedback about how they feel therapy is going, usually after each session, the therapy alliance--one of the strong predictors of successful outcome--is more positive, therapy dropouts are reduced, and those clients whom therapists predict will do poorly in therapy actually do better than expected. Feedback is important not only in therapy but also in supervision. Therapists who know specifically how to get feedback from their clients--what to ask for and when and how to ask--will do better therapy and have fewer dropouts. Many therapists mistakenly believe that they know how therapy is going and how their clients feel about therapy, but research shows that therapists' perceptions about these things often differ from that of their clients'.

This intermediate course has three parts. Section One presents the research which supports obtaining client feedback as well as general principles which explain why feedback not only improves outcome and strengthens the alliance, but actually enhances the process of therapy. Section Two examines what clients have previously said about what they expect and want from individual and couples therapists. Section Three presents resources, including where to find downloadable, quick feedback forms, and an extensive bibliography for learning more about the power of client feedback.

Educational Objectives

This course will teach psychotherapists to:

Discuss the positive effects of client feedback on therapy outcome.

Integrate client feedback with psychotherapy.

Summarize the effect of client feedback on the therapy alliance.

Discuss what client expectations are about individual and couples therapy.

Discuss how to use feedback in supervision.

Course Syllabus

The dimensions of client satisfaction with therapy

goal attainment

therapist helpfulness

agency amenities

improvement in the clients' presenting issues

Benefits of client feedback

client empowerment

strengthening the therapy alliance

correcting therapist misperceptions

Clients' expectations of therapy

individual therapy expectations

couples therapy expectations

Feedback in supervision

using client feedback forms

using therapist feedback forms

using feedback not to evaluate the therapist but to improve the therapy